Figure toy



Patented .lune 8, 1226.

UNITED *sra'riazsv assente CLAUDE O. 'BRITTN, (2)1?` AURORA, ILLNOIS.

Fianna Tor.

Application filed September 22, 19272. Serial No. 589,807;

My invention relates to toys, myv object being to provide in. an inexpensive form an attractive toy,l and my invention consists in whatever isdescribed by or included within the terms or scope of the appended claim.

c Briefly vdescribed my invention comprehends movable objects or ligures, such-for example as the figure-,of a mouse and that of aucat which have ypaths of movement that intersect so that at a certain pointl in the travell of the mouse begins, thedotted lines showf ling their position .when the cat has penne-ed upon the mouse;

Fig.,2 is a cross section. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view.` A i y Fig. d is a bottom plan view illustrating another' embodiment 'of invention.

f Referring now in detailv to what is shown in the drawings there is a base, 10, of oblong form and .say two and one half inches long and one and three fourth inches wide, and which is hollow or box-like and made of sheet metal although of course the form of the base its dimensions and the material of which it is made may be greatly varied without departure from the principle of my invention. The base has a fiat top and eX- j tending lengthwise of the top close to one side of the base is a slot, 11, to allow the longitudinal sliding movement of the mouse figure, 12, which rests u on the top over the slot and which'is held in place by a stud or pin, 13, which passes .from the bottom of the figure through the slot and on the underside of the latter has a head or enlargement, 14, to hold the figure in the slot while leaving it free to move back and forth over the same. Also projecting from the mouse gure downward through the slot is a pin, 15, which is sufficiently spaced from the retaining stud or pinv as to form with the latter a Vtguiding means-'for the mouse gure which will prevent its substantial lateral displacement by a turning movement, a

'slight sidewise oscillating movement which the size of the pi with reference to the slot lwill permit lnot being objectionable but desirable `in'order that the movements of the PATENr orrica mousev` ymay not be rigidly'conined Lto af straightline. Indeed the slot, 11, instead ofl being straight might be made smu'ous in orf der to permit the mouse figurato move in fa devious pathand towards the cat figure, 16,.

which ismounted tomove cross-wise ofthe base and thepath of the mouse figure .so that at the appointed time thev cat figure'lma'y move when the mousefigure is ina position for the cat ligure seemingly to pounce up.- onit. l, Y y f he cat figureis pivote'd tothe upper end of a lever, 17, which passes downward through a slot, 18, inthe base, 10, that eX- tends transversely'thereof near one end and within the base on the end wall theretoby a pivot pin, 19,. A Vspring devicezwhich may be a rubber band, 20, engages at one endthe cat carrying lever, 19, and atlthe other'end is attached at one end `to thel base so-that it tendsto swing the lever to move the cat in a dlrectiontowards the path o-f the mouse figure. Nhen the base is made of sheet metal the side wall to which the spring is 'lattache/d may vhave atongue or spur, 21,- struck up from it over which the end of the band or spring is caught. A latch device is provided to engage the cat carrying lever when the cat isin the position from which it jumps, which latch isv released by contact therewith or a member thereof of the mouse ligure guiding pin', 15, whenA the mousev has been moved to the position where the cat is to pounce upon it. ,Said latch device comprises a lever, 22, which may be a piece of heavy wire that extends transversely of the base, 10, on the underside of the to-p thereof to which it is pivoted for horizontal'movement by being loosely engaged by a tongue or spur, n

28, struck up from the base top when made of sheet metal and which is `crimped or bent over the wire. Operatively` connected with the lever, 22, is a latch finger, 24C, which may be a piece of wire which at one end has an eye, 25, that extends downward through a slot in the base-top through which the lever is passed, and which has astraight portion on the top of the base piece that extends towards the slotV in such top in which thev mouse carryingv lever swings, said latch finger being held inL place andguided by a lug, 26, struck up from the base-top. The latch finger projects enough above the surface `of the base-top so that it may be engaged by the linger to move it into position to latch the cat carrying lever. If desired the latch 0perating lever, 22, might have an extension of such length and in such position as to be engaged by either of the mouse figure guiding pins when the mouse is retracted to its position furthest from the cat and Ythereby the latch finger be automatically moved into latching position. Y

Indeed a single piecey of wire may be so bent .as to comprise both the latchilgfnger and the means for moving it into and out of f lever rengaging position, as shown in Fig. 4.

The latch finger, 2440, is formed by a reverse ai; bend of a transversely extending part, 220,

corresponding to the releasing lever, 22, and trom such part is an eXtens1on, 221, parallel f with the mouse'figure slot and at the far end of the path of such ligure is bent atv right angles to form a linger, 222, adapted to be engaged by the mouse guiding pin, l5. At

vintervals guide eyes, 230, are struck :from

the underside of the base-top piece to support and guide the movements of the latch device and thus formed all parts of it may be on the under side of said top piece. v The base piece when made of sheet metal may havethe end walls integral with the top and bent downward therefrom and the side walls may be united to the base top and the end walls by the well known expedient of tongues, 27, formed on the side walls and slits in the top piece through which the tongues are passed and thenbent over.

f The manner of use of my toy will be evident from the description thus far given.

With the mouse in a position away from the path of movement of the cat, the latter will be latched in its vposition farthest from the vpath of the mouse. l The mousel is then pushed along towards the path of the cat but l finally reaching a point where the cat latch vbroken in use.

What I claimv is: v

A toy comprising a base, slots extending respectively lengthwise and crosswise of the base, a movable ligure mounted above each slot, a lever extending from one of the figures through one of the slots, a spring acting on said lever, a latch to engage'said lever, a latch operating member on the underside of the base and a pin .projecting from the figure not connected with the lever andl passing through the'slot beneath such figure and adapted to engage said latch releasing member. y

In testimony whereof I lhereunto affix my signature. 1

CLAUDE o. BRITToN. 

